Thursday, February 12, 2009

LBC - Kaun Banega Superstar

Movies on the movie industry have a peculiar charm about them. It is like turning a camera back to face yourself, or shooting your own feet. It is a time to reveal your warts. Zoya reveals the beauties and warts of the film industry with a gentle humour with Luck By Chance.

Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan) is a fairly good looking fellow (hot actually) who can emote well, dance well and has a good bod too. He has a couple of friends connected slightly to the movie industry. He has this childhood friend Abhimanyu (Arjun) who is a laid-back kind of a character. He does theater and has a hot neighbour, Sona (Konkona). He also hangs out with another friend who assists Mahesh Bhatt. Almost inadvertently, 'by chance' to borrow the title phrase, a grandfather clock sets things in motion for Vikram, and he winds up charming the right people, which leads him to a big break.

Our Vikram is not all sugar and sweet, he is out to be a superstar and he can be sans scruples when the occasion demands it. All the people in the industry are shown in an equal light, they are neither white nor black. The backbiting, the mediocrity, the manipulations are all shown with such a gentle humour that you are left giggling and marveling.

The story is like a slice of life and very complete. The characters are totally STANDOUT. There is not one character I would cut out of the movie. Dimple, Juhi, Rishi are the stellar seniors, though Juhi looks mint fresh as Minty. Dimple is grace personified as ever, and her acting is flawless as ever. Rishi is now getting the kind of roles he deserved. He is an emotional, Punjabi, old time producer who can shed crocodile tears at the drop of a pin. He wolfs down paranthas with his diet food. Isha Shravani as Nikki,  the debutante heroine  and the daughter of an yesteryear's superstar is perfect. She looks exactly like a pampered teenager who has had everything on a platter.

If the characters are a standout, I don't have words to describe the script and dialogues. They are simply PERFECT. The dialogues are fun and funny without being smart ass. I am dying to reveal the one about khoon and murder. But won't. No point in spoiling others' fun. The story moves so well, and is so well done, that I feel its one of the best scripts ever in a film industry.

The acting is superlative, the cast is definitely ensemble, especially as the hero of this movie is not there to hog footage, but to make a good movie.

May I please compare this movie with Dil Chahta Hai? Of course DCH is fun personified and one of the best movies out of Hindi film industry, but still I didn't quite like the Preity-Amir tamasha at the end of it. It was too dramatic. And I also had a bit of a quarrel about the opulence of sets, the attempt to create a 'designer' look. These two faults are totally avoided in LBC, there is no attempt at opulence, and the look is strictly according to the situation. The clothes of the characters and the sets are just perfect.

Alright, that comparison above was a bit out of line, Farhan and Zoya are brother and sister, but they are entitled to their own movie making styles.

I had a bone to pick with Sona (Konkona) opting to drop out of the rat race at the end.  By doing so, Sona shows that you cannot survive in the film industry unless you are willing to play dirty.  The message it gives out is that when someone uses you, you just use them back.  If you cannot do that, go away. Also, I am sure television world has as much dirty politics going on as the film world.

17 comments:

  1. Now you have made me want to catch the movie. Weekend, here I come!

    BY the way, you have beent o my blog a couple of times and I am a regular to yours. Incidentally, I also show a link to your blog from mine. Would you terribly mind linking mine on yours (Only if you like it of course).

    http://prabhashnirbhay.blogspot.com
    http://at-the-redlight.blogspot.com

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  2. Hi babe,

    I just heard of this movie.....so many to see ... so many to catch up on

    btw wht do you think of slumdog?

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  3. Prabash, Good to see you here. I remember you were among the first persons ever to put me on your blogroll. Thanks a ton for tht. At the time I didnt know how the blogroll thing worked.. now I do.

    I used to read your blog a lot n leave comments too.. but then you didnt update for quite a time and I lost the link.

    here goes !

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  4. Angel, i loved this one.. You know somehow I didnt like slumdog too much and am blaming the advance publicity.

    I ve heard Dev.d is fundoo too.. this weekend.. slurrrrp ...

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  5. Bang on when u say 'neither black nor white'.. something like in this industry, there are 'no permanent
    friends, no permanent enemies.'

    Now ur comparison to DCH was for the reason Zoya is Farhan's sister but the other angle is that when Anurag told Farhan that her directorial debut is the best to come in last decade surpassing his DCH. I agree the Preity-Aamir was a melodramatic but as whole DCH was something fresh in Bollywood that time. Anyways, there is no point discussing whose was better debut. Why, Farhan replied to Anurag, "we decided to keep it in family." :):)

    Konkona did use him as she told him in the end, 'Tum aise hi ho aur aise hi rahoge.' and ditched him. He came begging and she didn't take him in her arms when he most needed it. Hai ki nahi?

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  6. definately good movie.. awesome casting !!..and loved the small but memorable charecters of Ayub khan and anurag kashyap.. loveeed Farhan .. konkana was a bit of a let down ..i quite liked the ending.. move on types .. so untypical of what happens in the film industry .. the movie was a il longish with lots of songs ..nice movie !!!

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  7. have heard tons abt this movie and am dying to catch it ... in a couple of months i guess :(

    u know have been hearing the farhan 'hot' reaction everywhere, but he didnt really do it for me in rock on.

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  8. well oxy, you are right. i compared almost unconciously with DCH because its in the family. And also because the feel and look of the movie is quite similar.

    I guess I wanted Konkona to use Farhan to get to the top herself. I didnt quite like her saying she was happy being where she was. Almost as if being a small time operator somehow proved that she wasnt that big a manipulator.

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  9. Daz.. Yes, I adored the anurag kashyap part. Thats another director crying out for acting roles.

    Dont remember what Ayub did.

    The detailing was good here. There should be more moving on in movies, its more like real life.

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  10. CP, Initially I didnt think Farhan was hot, competant yes, but not hot. In my Rock On review I said he was good, but had no charisma. But he works in a way. And I have seen so much of him here on TV n all that he has grown on me ..

    I used the word 'hot' because he has a good bod and wears low slung towels a couple of times in this flick.

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  11. I toooooo loved the movie...

    As I was discussing with a fren, this movie has like Fashion, Corporate etc shown a side of a profession which very clearly says that it is an opportunitic world out there but LBC stands out because it entertains you through n through.

    I had seimply loved Dimple, she stands out for her fiery portrayal. Farhan was good as well btu when I came out he wasn't in the top of my mind...I carried out Rishi Kappor & Dimple with me...

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  12. You know Smita, I was a tad disappointed that Dimple n Rishi were not 'together' in this film. But I loved Juhi as Rishi's wife, and genteel spats that Rishi and Dimple share. Here are a couple of totally uninhibited performers, they really throw themselves into their role.

    Doesnt Dimple look gorgeous in her swinging long anarkali type kurtas?? me also going to get one..

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  13. Trust u ladies to observe the kurti n towels so meticulously.

    Well yes, the feel was similar but again I would rate DCH higher (not on technicality but cuz it came earlier; poor Zoya).

    Ah, that way for Konkona. Possible ending but then it wud have gone a tad too 'jaisi-karni-vaisi-bharni' for all the characters.

    @Bedazzled, Where the fuck was Ayub? Do u mean Ally Khan or any other Khan?

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  14. We appreciate details oxy..

    hehe

    well you are right.. DCH was pathbreaking.. LBC is just another flick.. wo cheez to hai. plus the star appeal of Amir, Saif, Akshaye, Dimple and Preity was way high.

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  15. I loved LBC. Brilliant scripting by Zoya. And Konkona, OMG! She's amazing fun to watch!!!

    I have a review of the movie too. It's at my blog - http://www.bhargavsaikia.com

    Do take a look. Cheers!

    Bhargav.

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  16. hi avdi - just finished watching the movie and thought ur review was spot on!! i loved it, almost the first movie in a long time where i finished and instantly rewinded and watched again. the script and performances are so amazing!! the bit where dimple talks abt being a 16 year old in the industry, her expressions are so perfect - uninhibited is right! sen sharma turns out goody but she's so perfect in the role .... fa is v. good too, tho i wish he had a better hair style. that curly mop really distracted me every single time he appeared on screen. u know if u were to compare with om shanti om, the other movie to present an inside look at the film industry, i'd prefer something like this with it's subtle humor and slyness, better than the love-fest that movie was.

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  17. CP yay.. I am glad you liked it..

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